Maritime Boundaries and Limits: Some Basic Legal Principles

10.1163/ej.9789004158917.i-627.128

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Chapter Summary

The leading work International Maritime Boundaries contains reports on almost 200 agreed boundaries in its 5 volumes. There are several sources of uncertainty in the law governing maritime spaces, affecting both boundaries between neighbours and national limits. They include change, differences in charting, and, most importantly, natural diversity. The LOS Convention is in force for its 152 parties and its package of rules represents the modern law. Now that over three-quarters of coastal states are parties to the Convention, it is prevailing more and more over the Geneva Conventions. Article 15 concerning the delimitation of the territorial sea repeats the effect of the Geneva Convention. On this important question, there was continuity. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that this formulation is part of customary law.